WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appears at the window of the balcony prior to making an address to the media at the Embassy of Ecuador in London on May 19, 2017. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appears at the window of the balcony prior to making an address to the media at the Embassy of Ecuador in London on May 19, 2017.
WikiLeaks was already established as an online outlet for posting secret documents from anonymous leakers well before its massive disclosure of U.S. government and military information in 2010. That was the year WikiLeaks' Australian founder, Julian Assange, faced allegations that led to his seeking asylum in Ecuador's London embassy.
Here is a timeline of WikiLeaks' key disclosures and related developments.
November: WikiLeaks posts a U.S. Army manual of standard operating procedures for soldiers overseeing al-Qaida suspects held captive at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
September: Two months before the U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks posts leaked emails from the Yahoo account of Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin.
November: WikiLeaks posts more than half-a-million pager messages it claims were sent on Sept. 11, 2001.
April: WikiLeaks posts a classified U.S. military video of a U.S. Apache helicopter gunship firing on what the military says were believed to be armed fighters in New Baghdad, Iraq. Among the 18 killed were two Reuters journalists.
May: Pfc. Bradley (later known as Chelsea) Manning is arrested by the U.S. military and then court-martialed in June, charged with leaking the combat video posted on WikiLeaks as well as classified State Department documents by downloading those documents to a personal computer.
July: WikiLeaks posts what it calls "The Afghan War Logs," more than 75,000 classified documents that record previously undisclosed civilian casualties inflicted by the U.S. and coalition forces, details of the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and accounts of stepped-up fighting by the Taliban.
August: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces an arrest warrant over allegations of rape and molestation during a visit to Sweden; police question him in Stockholm, where he denies the allegations.
October: WikiLeaks posts nearly 400,000 classified military documents it calls "The Iraq War Logs"; they detail the involvement of Iraqi security forces in the torture of prisoners of war, document higher civilian death tolls and describe Iran's support for Iraqi insurgents.
November: WikiLeaks posts the first 250,000 of more than 3 million leaked U.S. diplomatic cables from nearly 300 American consulates and embassies worldwide that span the years from 1966 to 2010.
December: Assange is arrested in London to face extradition for the Swedish allegations; he is released and put under house arrest after posting bail.
February: WikiLeaks posts seven cables from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, amid violent clashes between Egyptian security forces and pro-democracy demonstrators; the documents discuss Egypt's human rights and civil liberties violations.
April: WikiLeaks posts "The Guantanamo Files," some 800 classified military documents detailing the official allegations of terrorist actions by the men held captive in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
October: After being removed from Amazon's servers and being allegedly cut off from major credit card companies as well as PayPal and Western Union, WikiLeaks suspends publication of leaked documents to "aggressively fundraise."
February: WikiLeaks starts posting a trove of what it claims are 5 million leaked emails from Stratfor, a private company that describes itself as a "global intelligence company."
June: Assange takes refuge in Ecuador's London embassy, where he seeks political asylum.
July: WikiLeaks begins posting more than 2 million leaked emails, dating back to 2006, from 680 Syrian government officials and firms.
August: Assange is granted political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy; a military judge condemns Manning to a 35-year prison sentence; Manning announces gender transition and asks to be known as Chelsea.
Throughout the year: WikiLeaks posts leaked documents detailing the private negotiations for major trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
June: WikiLeaks posts leaked documents from the Saudi foreign ministry.
July: WikiLeaks begins posting leaked National Security Agency documents revealing American surveillance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Franois Hollande, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as two prime ministers, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Italy's Silvio Berlusconi.
July: WikiLeaks posts nearly 20,000 emails and 8,000 attachments from leaders of the Democratic National Committee; Assange later denies allegations that Russian intelligence services were the source of the leak.
October: WikiLeaks posts more than 2,000 hacked emails from the account of John Podesta, who at the time was campaign chairman for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
January: Outgoing President Barack Obama commutes Manning's prison sentence, allowing her to be freed in May.
March: WikiLeaks starts posting what it calls "Vault 7," which it claims to be a collection of thousands of internal Central Intelligence Agency documents that detail a covert hacking program carried out by the agency as well as malware and software it uses to spy on smart TVs, the operating systems of most smartphones and Web browsers.
September: WikiLeaks starts posting the first of what it says are 650,000 leaked critical documents from surveillance contractors working in a Russia ruled by President Vladimir Putin.
October: CIA Director Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is "working to take down" WikiLeaks, which he calls "an enormous threat."
December: Assange is granted Ecuadorian citizenship.
April: The Democratic National Committee files a lawsuit against WikiLeaks for its role in publishing the DNC's hacked emails.
May: Manning's conviction under the Espionage Act is upheld by a U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
November: A document written by a U.S. attorney inadvertently discloses that Assange has been charged under seal by the U.S.
March: Manning is jailed after refusing to testify to a grand jury about what she leaked to WikiLeaks.
April: Ecuadorian President Lenn Moreno accuses WikiLeaks of intercepting his private phone calls and hacking photos of his bedroom, his meals and his wife and daughters dancing; Moreno provided no evidence, and WikiLeaks calls the charges "bogus."
Assange is arrested at Ecuador's London embassy by British police, accused of skipping bail.
The U.S. Justice Department unseals an indictment of Assange dated March 6, 2018, that charges him with "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion."
See more here:
12 Years Of Disruption: A WikiLeaks Timeline - NPR.org
- Beguiling new documentary puts WikiLeaks star Jacob Appelbaum in the spotlight - The Globe and Mail - June 18th, 2024
- WikiLeaks' Assange extradition appeal to be heard next month By Reuters - Investing.com - June 18th, 2024
- Will the First Amendment Save Assange? - The American Conservative - June 10th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Assange wins right to appeal against an extradition order to the US - Manchestertimes - May 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's legal saga could soon end in UK | AP ... - May 25th, 2024
- London Court To Decide Whether WikiLeaks Founder Assange Is Extradited To The US - Newstalk 750 - 103.7 KFQD - KFQD - May 25th, 2024
- London court rules WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal an extradition order to the US - Montana Right Now - May 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal extradition to the US, UK court rules - KABC-TV - May 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange allowed to appeal extradition from UK to US - The Times of India - May 25th, 2024
- London court rules WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal an extradition order to the US - Leader Publications - May 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Assange wins right to appeal against an extradition order to the US - News10NBC - May 25th, 2024
- Wife Of Wikileaks Founder, Stella Assange Vows To Fight On As He Faces Extradition To The U.S. - Moneycontrol - May 15th, 2024
- The Cultivation of Don Jr: A Framework to Think of the Russian Attack - Emptywheel - May 15th, 2024
- Peace People founder urges Joe Biden to release Julian Assange if Wikileaks publisher is extradited to the US - The Irish News - April 28th, 2024
- WikiLeaks editor-in-chief on why the world needs Assange to be freed - The Saturday Paper - April 28th, 2024
- Not too late to block Assange extradition, WikiLeaks editor says - The Independent - April 11th, 2024
- Not too late to block Assange extradition, WikiLeaks editor says - Evening Standard - April 11th, 2024
- Julian Assange: UK court orders delay to extradition of WikiLeaks founder to US - The Associated Press - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange: UK court orders delay to extradition of WikiLeaks ... - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, given chance to appeal against U.S ... - April 2nd, 2024
- U.K. court gives WikiLeaks Julian Assange three weeks before extradition - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - April 2nd, 2024
- WikiLeaks' Julian Assange wins temporary reprieve from extradition to US - TRT World - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange wins temporary reprieve from extradition to US - Reuters UK - April 2nd, 2024
- Timeline of the Assange legal saga as he faces further delay in bid to avoid extradition to the US - The Associated Press - April 2nd, 2024
- UK delays extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US - The Hill - April 2nd, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be immediately extradited to the U.S., British court rules - CNBC - April 2nd, 2024
- Will Julian Assange Be Extradited to the US? Why Its Complicated - Bloomberg - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange gets brief reprieve in the UK - OCRegister - April 2nd, 2024
- US granted extension by UK High Court to provide 'satisfactory assurances' for fair trial of WikiLeaks founder - JURIST - April 2nd, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wins partial victory in U.S. extradition case - The Globe and Mail - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange wins temporary reprieve in case against extradition to US - The Guardian - April 2nd, 2024
- Julian Assange Scores Temporary Win in Fight Against Extradition - The Daily Beast - April 2nd, 2024
- Assange granted temporary reprieve from extradition to U.S. - The Hindu - April 2nd, 2024
- Protect the founder of WikiLeaks for the future of press freedom - The Baylor Lariat - March 21st, 2024
- The Trust Fall: Julian Assange film review impassioned documentary about the WikiLeaks founder - Financial Times - March 21st, 2024
- The Trust Fall: Julian Assange review partisan portrait of WikiLeaks man - The Guardian - March 21st, 2024
- Rep. Massie bringing Julian Assange's brother as guest to State of the Union - Fox News - March 13th, 2024
- Assange's extradition would mean the end of legality, Russia believes - Prensa Latina - March 13th, 2024
- The Press Freedom Case of the Century - Random Lengths - March 13th, 2024
- UN expert on freedom of expression urges end to Julian Assanges prosecution over press freedom concerns - Fox News - March 5th, 2024
- WikiLeaks has not released the footage of NASAs moon landing shot in the Nevada Desert. - Factly - March 5th, 2024
- Public meetings called by the SEP/IYSSE in Britain: The fight to free Julian Assange is the fight against war! - WSWS - March 5th, 2024
- Why extradition of WikiLeaks Julian Assange to US would be cataclysmic for press freedom - Committee to Protect Journalists - March 5th, 2024
- Stella Assange: This case has normalized intimidating journalists everywhere - EL PAS USA - March 5th, 2024
- China and Iran Have Their WikiLeaks Moment - AOL - March 5th, 2024
- 'It would be a good thing if British courts give Assange necessary protection': German Chancellor - The New Indian Express - March 5th, 2024
- Navalny And Assange: Exposing Crimes Of The Powerful Like No "Ordinary" Journalists Could - Worldcrunch - March 5th, 2024
- US Refuses to Assure UK Judges That Assange Won't Be Executed If He's Extradited - Truthout - March 5th, 2024
- WikiLeaks - Wikiwand - February 25th, 2024
- Assange targeted by U.S. and Trump over his WikiLeaks exposures, lawyer says - Reuters - February 25th, 2024
- Julian Assange: Who is he and what secrets did Wikileaks reveal? - BBC.com - February 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Assange begins final attempt to avoid ... - PBS - February 25th, 2024
- Wikileaks founders last bid to resist extradition to the U.S. - CNN - February 25th, 2024
- What to know as Julian Assange faces a ruling on his U.S. extradition case over WikiLeaks secrets - CBS News - February 25th, 2024
- Who is Julian Assange? Will the WikiLeaks founder be extradited to the US? - Al Jazeera English - February 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Assange may be near the end of his long fight to stay out of the US - The Associated Press - February 25th, 2024
- Wife of WikiLeaks' Assange calls U.S. extradition hearing a 'farce' - NBC News - February 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks' Assange faces wait to find out whether he can challenge extradition to the US - The Associated Press - February 25th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange starts final UK legal battle to avoid extradition to US on spy charges - The Associated Press - February 25th, 2024
- 'Created a serious and imminent risk': US lawyers argue for spying charges against WikiLeaks founder Juli - The Times of India - February 25th, 2024
- Julian Assange is fighting extradition to the US. Here's what you should know about the WikiLeaks founder's situation - ABC News - February 25th, 2024
- Julian Assange: Who is he and what secrets did Wikileaks reveal? - BBC - February 25th, 2024
- Julian Assange's father calls on government to pressure UK, US to release WikiLeaks founder - ABC News - February 25th, 2024
- Australian lawmakers approve motion calling for release of Julian ... - February 17th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder Assange will die if extradited to US: Wife - Press TV - February 17th, 2024
- WikiLeaks founder: Assange 'will die' if UK appeal fails and sent to US: wife - RTL Today - February 17th, 2024
- The Last Flurry: The US Congress and Australian Parliamentarians seek Assange's Release - CounterPunch - January 24th, 2024
- Vault 7 - Wikipedia - November 17th, 2023
- WikiLeaks - Wikipedia - May 3rd, 2023
- WikiLeaks' Website Is Slowly Falling Apart - February 25th, 2023
- Who is Julian Assange? What to know about the WikiLeaks ... - February 25th, 2023
- How Much Did WikiLeaks Damage U.S. National Security? - February 25th, 2023
- Julian Assange - WikiLeaks, Arrest & Facts - Biography - February 25th, 2023
- Ram Madhav writes on BBC documentary on PM Modi: A hit job that is a damp squib - The Indian Express - January 30th, 2023
- WikiLeaks - BadMFS -- Developer Guide - January 6th, 2023
- News Outlets Urge U.S. to Drop Charges Against Julian Assange - The New York Times - December 4th, 2022
- Elon Musk starts new Twitter poll on whether Assange and Snowden should be pardoned - Republic World - December 4th, 2022
- WikiLeaks - Government - October 31st, 2022
- WikiLeaks - What is WikiLeaks - October 31st, 2022
- WikiLeaks - Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow - October 23rd, 2022